Will this wort chiller idea work?

[Andysam]

My idea:
use a 5 gallon water cooler (like often used for a mash) filled with ice water and about 15 feet (cheap at homedepot) of copper tubing inside of that. Then just hook up the copper tubing to the output of your boil kettle and drain through the copper coil into a fermenter.

I think this would be faster than a wort chiller, and cheaper than a plate or counter flow chiller.

Would 15 feet of copper tubing be enough? I want to drop it to pitching temp, not below. Also this would be for my 5 and 10 gallon batches, I figure that it would work for both. Might just have to refill the ice for the 10 gallon batch.

 

[pompeiisneaks]

it would work, but not sure how well, and as far as how much feet, I'd guess 25 is better, but you can adjust flow w/ the outlet valve to go faster/slower to meet what temps you want. I think it should work, but it will take a little trial and error (I say 25 because almost everyone that does these coils use 25 feet min, but ymmv)

 

[pompeiisneaks]

oh and you'd want to make sure the ice doesn't all melt, you may need to re add more.

 

[The Pol]

It wont work...

Well, you will have to run it through REALLY slow, and it will take about 44# of ice. This I know.

So, it CAN work, but...

 

[EMPyre]

Yeah what he said...

5 gallons of ice water don't have enough thermal capacity to cool that volume of wort. You need a larger cool body resevoir that the increase in temperature from absorbing the wort's heat is essentially zero (or minimal). That's what a CFC or IC with FLOWING water creates, essentially an infinite, constant temp resevoir...

 

[The Pol]

You will need about 44# of ice, and enough water to cover your coil (surface area contact).

44# of ice is about 10-11 gal. volume

I dont think it will be faster... only because you still have to transfer all of that heat. In my previous system... I used 44# of ice with about 2 gallons water (to cover coil) in the HERMS vessel and recirculated the wort through 25' of copper tubing (1/2" OD) and it took 20 minutes to cool 5 gallons.

 

[verotik]

You also have to worry about sanitizing the inside of the coil. Interesting idea, but i dont think its a good idea.

 

[drummermattie02]

If you want to tinker with ice water and a coil, pick up a cheap submersible pump from Harbor Freight and pump ice water through your immersion chiller. That said, more than 15' is necessary, especially if you're talking about cooling a full-volume boil 10 gallon batch. I use 35' of 1/2" copper and am able to cool a 3.5 gallon partial boil to 70* in less than 9 minutes, after tinkering with the flow rate of the pump a bit.

 

[wyzazz]

Trust me, just pick up a Plate Chiller from DudaDiesel.com or make a CounterFlow Chiller yourself. You won't be sorry...

 

[Redbeard5289]

I built one of these about a month ago and it works great for the last two 5gal batches I brewed up.
I recycled a coleman chest cooler by adding a ball value assembly to the cooler's drain value and removing the chest cooler lid. Then I got 20ft 3/8" copper tubing form home dept and curled it into cylinder and attached the bottom end to the ball value assembly. The top end of the copper coil, with some fittings and a section of vinyl tubing, is attached to the ball value of my brew pot. All this is set up in a 3 tier system with the brewpot at the highest and the fermentation bucket at the lowest, letting gravity do to the work. The ball value on the brew pot is fully open while the ball value on the cooler is partial open to restrict flow to the desired temperture I need.
In the cooler I put in about 1 1/2 to 2 gal of water, 2 half-gallon milk jugs of ice and 20lbs of ice with an additional 10lbs of ice standing by (usually for the last 1 1/2 gal of wort to cool off) I keep swirling the ice with one of milk jugs to keep the coils cool and to maintain my output temperture. Keeping the cooler lid off helps release the dissapated heat and gives easier access to the ice water for stirring.
With this setup I can cool 5 gallons of 180+ ºF Wort to 65-70ºF in about 20minutes. And since I live in Minnesota, Ice and Snow are plentiful right now so my ice costs are next to nothing. But if you want cheap ice the best place I found is the local Burger King, they will sell you 10lb for 1.39. Just an FYI for ya.
As far as keeping it all sanitary, I figure its no more a problem than the counterflow chillers have (they run wort thru their copper tubing too). Just run some sanitary solution thru it followed by regular water and you should be good to go. Have a empty container standing by to collect the output until the wort is all the way thru the chiller then remove it and let the cooled wort collect in your fermenter.
After using my neighbor's Counter Flow Chiller for a 5gal batch of beer and seeing how much water was running down my driveway and the look on my wife's face after she open the water bill for the month, I needed a more practical way of cooling my wort. Not sure if this qualifies, but my water bill has returned to a more acceptable level for the misses and I am happy with the it. Sure beats cooling it with an ice bath.

Hope this helps
Redbeard5289

 

[Bobby_M]

How much do you pay for your water? I pay 1/2 cent per gallon and it takes about 25 gallons to chill 5 gallons of wort on average. That's 13 cents worth of water.

 

[JuanMoore]

What's with all the negative comments? I will agree with other comments that 15' may be a little short though. My summertime chiller is 21' of 3/8" copper coiled in a 5 gal bucket, and it works great. I use one and a half 10# bags of ice, a few frozen water bottles, and then fill it with water. It takes 5.5 gal of boiling wort down to the 60's in the time it takes to siphon into the fermenter. Gently shaking the coils or stirring the ice water as the wort flows through increases the chilling power. I haven't used it since I started making 10 gal batches, but another bag or two of ice should do the trick.

Yes I have to buy ice and/or freeze water bottles to use this chiller, but when you live somehwere that the "cold" water in the summer is often in the 90's, chillers that rely on tap water simply don't work.

 

[Andysam]

Thanks for the input guys. I work at a restaurant, so i could fill up my ice chest with ice for free.

I also have a jockey box that I can use the 50' of stainless steel coil that is in it. I just didnt want to have to take apart and reassemble my box everytime I wanted to brew. But it is not that big of a deal.

But, would this 50' be too much then? Would the temp get too low?
Does anyone recommend those inline temp gauges? Do they work well?

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/thrumometer.html

 

[JuanMoore]

Thanks for the input guys. I work at a restaurant, so i could fill up my ice chest with ice for free.

I also have a jockey box that I can use the 50' of stainless steel coil that is in it. I just didnt want to have to take apart and reassemble my box everytime I wanted to brew. But it is not that big of a deal.

But, would this 50' be too much then? Would the temp get too low?
Does anyone recommend those inline temp gauges? Do they work well?

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/thrumometer.html

50' would just be slower. As long as you don't use too much ice, it shouldn't get it too cold. Just monitor the outgoing temp as you go, and you can control temp a little by adding ice or stirring the ice water. When I use mine, the wort comes out in the 50's at first, and by the end the ice has all melted and it's coming out somewhere in the 90's. The overall temp typically lands in the high 60's to low 70's. With a little trial and error, I'm sure you can get it to work for you.

 

[The Pol]

You control outlet temp with flow rate.

If it is too cold, increase the rate, if it is too warm, slow it down.

 

[Kettle]

I have snow on the ground where I live so winter brewing allows for a faster chill. I use a water pump circulating the ice water through my immersion chiller. 4 gallons of water combined with the snow will chill my 13 gallons in 20 minutes. You need to slowly stir the wort to allow for heat exchange. Summertime I plan on using my pool water for the first 70 degrees.